


It Starts With a Chip

by Syngularity



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: (Dark) Humor, Alternate Universe, Clexaweek 2020 day 5, Day 5 AU, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lone Survivor Lexa, Post-Apocalypse, android clarke, clexaweek 2020, dystopian au, not canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:46:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23025004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syngularity/pseuds/Syngularity
Summary: Lone survivor Lexa attempts to fix a broken android she found several months ago in the hopes of gaining a companion.
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/Lexa
Comments: 89
Kudos: 468





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a tumblr trope prompt: Dystopian AU + Aroused by her voice.

The acronym etched into various hardware parts spells CLARKE, though she’s sure the meaning behind the acronym has long been forgotten. It took Lexa over six months to scavenge the parts needed to repair what was broken. It's remarkable how the cybernetic skin is still in such good condition given the serious damage she suffered on the inside. 

It. The damage _it_ suffered on the inside.

Lexa sips on a cup of filtered rainwater while her solar-powered soldering iron warms up to the correct temperature. Gathering enough solder from scrap to use for her repair sessions has been the most tedious part of this whole project, along with finding the right parts from the same manufacturer of the most high-end bots. What started as a project to pass time when she found herself bored has become her main focus over the past months, and now her treehouse lair looks more like an electronics workshop. 

Lexa doesn’t even know why she’s doing it anymore. She has no use for an android even if she gets it to work, no matter what kind of bot this machine is. But it’s been so long since she’s met another person who would talk to her instead of shooting at her. Not that the droid is a person… but if she allows herself to be honest in the privacy of her own mind—which is all she’s had for years—she would like to have a companion. Human or otherwise.

And she’s close now. Just a few more wires and hopefully the mainframe will finally work again, then she can run diagnostics to see what else needs fixing. After carefully soldering the broken connections, she inserts the battery she harvested from another droid and holds her breath.

The soft startup chime tells her she has finally found the right battery. A few seconds later the droid’s head tilts up from where it had faced down all this time, and a circular blue light starts swirling on the left temple beneath a lock of blonde hair before eyes just as bright and blue slowly open. Lexa has had some success in the past while trying to get the droid to boot up, but she’s never gotten so far that the eyes would open. She’s had dreams about this moment, but even her dreams did no justice to the color of the droid’s eyes now that she can finally see them.

The android takes in her surroundings as if she's scanning to see if she's safe until finally settling her eyes on Lexa. She doesn't know what she expected, but when the android opens her mouth and speaks.

"Hi, I'm Clarke. Who are you?"

Lexa sputters and nearly chokes on her own spit because... those eyes, and that _voice._

She wasn’t prepared for something like this. The Droid's—Clarke's—voice is husky and warm, unlike any other droids she's ever heard. And her eyes, the clearest blue Lexa has ever seen. Almost inhumanly blue but still soulful and lifelike with a wet sheen on them and lusciously lashed eyelids blinking every couple of seconds. Nothing uncanny like the unblinking droids that used to be common.

Clarke tilts her head in question, which prompts Lexa to finally reply to Clarke's greeting. 

"Uh, hi," she croaks, her voice rough from disuse. She clears her throat and tries again. "Hi, I'm Lexa."

"Lexa," Clarke repeats, as if she's ruminating on it and getting used to the feel of the name in her mouth, which is obviously crazy. Droids don't ruminate or ponder. They process and calculate. 

Just a few seconds of interacting with Clarke and Lexa is already questioning her sanity. Is she seeing things that aren't there? Has she lost her mind from being on her own for years? 

“What year is it? Where am I?” Clarke asks, snapping Lexa out of her thoughts.

“We’re in the Trigeda forest, not far from what used to be Polis city. I stopped tracking what year it is many moons ago, so I’m not sure of the year.”

“Polis? My last location was Arkadia according to my GPS memory.”

“Arkadia was hit directly when the first bombs fell, as I understand it. It was before my time. Is that where you were created?”

“No,” Clarke says, without adding anything else. 

Clarke looks at her for a long moment that stretches between them until Lexa can’t hold Clarke’s probing gaze on her any longer. “I found you when I was hiding out in a bunker between Polis and Arkadia. I’m no engineer but I’ve been trying to restore your functionality. Maybe you can run diagnostics to see what still needs to be done?”

“Already ran it. The damage is… extensive. I detect a battery from an older model and multiple lower bandwidth cables on my mainframe.”

Lexa shoots her an apologetic look. “It used the best stuff I could find.”

“How long did it take you to bring me—to restore functionality?”

Lexa scratches the back of her neck. “About six moons. Like I said, I’m no engineer.”

“I’m guessing I was close to irreparable, what made you decide to try anyway?”

Lexa feels her cheeks go hot at Clarke’s perceptive inquiries. “From the outside, I thought the damage was minimal, but once I brought you here and saw the internal damage… I knew it was a longshot. But something made me feel like I had to try anyway, and I just… needed a purpose, I guess.”

Clarke’s expression changes into something soft and so achingly _human_ at her confession. 

“Thank you,” Clarke rasps. “For trying, and not giving up on me.”

It’s said so earnestly, all Lexa can do is blush and murmur something unintelligible even to her own ears.

/

“How about now?”

“Not yet. It should be located close to where a human heart would be.”

Lexa moves her hand to the right, sliding further under Clarke’s breastplate while valiantly trying not to stare at Clarke’s spectacular chest. 

(The first time Lexa took a good look at the droid’s chest while indexing the damage she thought she might have inadvertently hauled an incredibly sophisticated sexbot into her lair.)

Once more, Lexa finds herself wondering about all the questions surrounding Clarke. When she was created, and why, what was her purpose in the before, and all the things she’s asked herself an infinite amount of times while doing repairs.

She searches for something to distract her from the precarious position she’s in with her face so close to Clarke’s and her hand in Clarke's chest.

“What are you?” She didn’t mean to say it out loud and definitely not phrased so poorly, but the words slipped out involuntarily.

Clarke gives her a look that makes Lexa's ears feel hot, one eyebrow lifting up slightly. 

“I mean, who are you? What kind of… which features… what can you do, were you designed—”

“I can see your cheeks are flushed," Clarke says, bringing an end to her rambling. "Your pupils are dilated and your heart rate has gone up to one hundred and five beats per minute.” 

When all Lexa does is stare in mortified silence, Clarke continues.

“My infrared scanner also shows an increase in temperature in your erogenous zones—”

“Oh my god, please stop.”

“Why? It doesn’t bother me. In fact, I’m flattered. And curious why you are aroused.”

“I can’t…” Lexa shakes her head and sucks her lips in. “Can we never talk about this again, please?”

Clarke looks at her with her big, inquisitive eyes, blinking slowly but never breaking eye contact. Lexa sighs, looks up toward the ceiling and grinds her jaw.

“It’s just… you, your voice. I don’t know. Please, can we forget about this?”

“As you wish.” 

Clarke’s sickeningly sweet smile tells her this won’t be the end of this at all, so Lexa tries to get the conversation back into safer territory.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Clarke’s face is wiped of all emotion so fast it makes Lexa feel uneasy in a totally different way than before.

"I was designed to bring about world peace,” Clarke says, all her previous teasing vanished into thin air.

Her expression is impassive. Like all other working droids Lexa’s ever seen.

In the same deadpan voice, she continues, “By destroying the human race.”

Lexa reflexively moves back in shock, heart pounding and a chill running down her spine. Clarke looks at her for a long time with the same blank look on her face, until her eyes sparkle and the corner of her lips tilt up into a smirk.

“That was a joke.”

Lexa shakes her head, decides Clarke deserves some payback for this one. 

She gets up and dusts herself off. 

“I think I’m gonna head down. Tend to my garden for a couple of hours, Or maybe I’ll head over to Polis to check on things there, I should be back in a few days. I’ve been needing to go for some time and since you seem to be getting on fine like this—”

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry. I won’t tease you anymore.” From Clarke’s expression Lexa doesn’t believe a word of what the droid is saying, especially after a softly murmured, “as much.” 

But she doesn’t actually want to leave Clarke, so she pretends to consider her options for a while before finally relenting.

Clarke’s victorious grin makes it all worth it.

/

It takes a week until most of Clarke’s functionality is restored. Once Clarke had enough mobility to do certain tricky repairs on herself with Lexa’s assistance, the process sped up significantly. They worked together as if they had done so for years. 

Clarke keeps her promise and doesn’t tease Lexa as much. They both ask each other a lot of questions about the past, though neither can or wants to answer many of them. Clarke remains tight lipped about her creator and her purpose and Lexa chooses to remain vague about how she came to live the way she does now, alone and isolated from other humans.

In what seems like no time at all, Clarke is walking around and making herself at home in Lexa’s lair. The first thing Clarke asked for were clothes for her to wear. So now she’s in old combat boots, Lexa’s spare black jeans, a torn shirt and a jacket that never fit Lexa quite right but looks like it was made for Clarke.

Lexa had expected it to be a big adjustment to suddenly share her space with someone else after living on her own with not other human beings around. And even though Clarke is not human, she might as well be with how much of a presence she has in Lexa’s modest treehouse. But Clarke fits into her space effortlessly. 

The only thing that she’s still not entirely comfortable with is sleeping. Because while she needs sleep, Clarke does not. The first night after switching Clarke on, Lexa woke up every hour, feeling the presence of another in her space, kept feeling the prickle of eyes on her vulnerable sleeping form that kept her slumber as light as a feather. 

But every time she opened her eyes, Clarke’s were not on her. The first time she woke up to look for Clarke she spotted her solving her rubik’s cube in record time. The next few times Clarke was examining some of the trinkets Lexa had collected over the years. By the end of the night she only opened one eye to see Clarke reading a book. After that, all she had to do was listen to the soft rustle of pages turning to know Clarke had not moved. 

When she woke up groggy and still tired the next morning, Clarke asked if Lexa would be more comfortable if she put herself in standby while Lexa slept. Lexa rejected the offer without a moment of thought. It felt wrong to ask Clarke to do that, and Clarke looked relieved. 

Clarke, her new android companion, can look _relieved._ That’s one of the reasons Lexa won’t even consider asking Clarke to go on standby during the night. It feels wrong, because even though Clarke doesn’t want to say much about her origins, she’s so much more than any other droid Lexa’s ever seen or heard of or read about. 

One of the things Lexa noticed early on is that Clarke has _quirks._ Her curiosity knows no bounds, everything Lexa has dragged up to her lair over the years has been picked up and examined by Clarke at this point. Lexa knows this because Clarke never seems to put things back in the exact place she found them. Though she’s better about it now that Lexa asked her to please try to keep things in order, Clarke still leaves a bit of a trail behind her wherever she goes.

After a couple of nights, Clarke had made a little nest for herself on Lexa’s old couch where she read books when Lexa slept, surrounded by trinkets that intrigued Clarke most. Lexa looks at her now from the comfort of her bed, legs curled underneath her body as she reads a book, brows furrowed as she quickly turns a page to keep reading.

The first time Clarke spotted a spider on the wall, Clarke exhibited other distinctly un-android-like behavior. She yelped as her eyes went comically wide. Lexa looked on in wonder as Clarke moved towards the other side of the treehouse, never taking her eyes off the spider for more than a second, picked up a broom off the floor and carefully scooped up the spider while holding the broom at arms length, and then threw the spider out of the window, broom and all.

It puzzles Lexa, but she doesn’t want to pressure Clarke into telling her things she doesn’t want to talk about.

She made it clear early on that Clarke is free to stay but also free to go her own way if that’s what she wants. She doesn’t think of Clarke as a thing she owns like most—if not all—droids have owners. Clarke is her equal, not her property. 

All Clarke has said about her origins is that she’s just like other droids, nothing special. And Lexa can tell she’s lying. But droids don’t lie, they can’t. Lying is not in their programming.

It’s yet another thing that makes Lexa question everything about Clarke and simultaneously her own sanity.

Why would a droid lie? She asks herself. Why would a droid lie and be secretive, look uncomfortable when questioned about her origins and be afraid of spiders and insects. 

Sometimes she looks at Lexa in such a way that makes her feel like Clarke can read her every thought. She can’t hold the intense scrutiny of Clarke’s perceptive stare, those sparkling blue eyes and long lashes inevitably make her look away, rubbing her neck and trying to get her cheeks and ears to return to their usual color. And the color always returns when she dares to look up again and spots the little smirk playing at Clarke’s lips.

She’s met droids who sometimes attempt humor, stilted and awkward jokes that never land the way they’re intended. 

Lexa thinks back to that first day when Clarke was unrepentant. She had helped Clarke stand for the first time and accidentally dropped a wrench on Clarke’s foot. She apologized and bent down to pick up the tool as Clarke casually said, “Don’t worry, I enjoy when humans bow before me.”

Lexa smiles at the memory now even though she was mortified and vaguely aroused at the time, which Clarke also pointed out to her.

And that’s another thing. Clarke isn’t just genuinely funny, she also teases and _flirts._

“You’re staring,” Clarke says from her spot on the couch, interrupting Lexa’s thoughts.

“Sorry.”

Lexa blushes at being caught. She thought of herself as a pretty tough and hardened survivor, but Clarke has rendered her into a flustered fool too many times to count over the past week with her teasing flirty remarks to be described as tough.

Lexa pulls away the covers and gets out of bed. The weather has finally let up, which means they can make the trek to the former city of Polis today to salvage parts. Clarke is nearly fully functioning but they ran out of parts to make the final necessary repairs. She goes through her morning routine and pulls on her clothes before stuffing her backpack with supplies for the trip.

“Are you ready? It’s not too late to change your mind if you prefer to stay here.”

Clarke bolts off the couch and slings on her jacket at once. “Ready,” she says with a beaming smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. I was supposed to finish this for Clexaweek but then I got hit with a fever that lasted 4 days so I decided to post what I had and finish once I'm better.
> 
> Find me on tumblr [@syngularitysyn](https://syngularitysyn.tumblr.com/)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa takes Clarke to the ruins of Polis to search for parts, but they soon run into trouble...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a lot longer than I planned (as usual). And this was supposed to be a one-shot, then became a two-shot and I guess (hope) it's a tree-shot now because it's not finished yet (:

They make their way down the tree without any trouble. Clarke climbs down to the ground as if she's done it hundreds of times before. Lexa forages for some food in the edible garden she has cultivated around her tree and refills her flasks for the journey ahead. But her eyes never stray from Clarke for long, watching as the android takes in the dewy forest bathed in the morning sun with wide-eyed wonder. 

When she goes silent, Lexa looks up to see why and finds Clarke eye to eye with the young deer she rescued from a hole in the ground when she was still a fawn.

Lexa's heart flutters against her ribs when Clarke shoots a look full of awe at her over her shoulder. She walks over to where Clarke and the deer are regarding each other carefully. After Lexa rescued her, bandaged her injured leg, and gave her some rations, the fawn visited her frequently to be fed and watered and even let herself be pet.

She holds out her hand with some nuts for the deer like she usually does, and they watch the animal eat her snack together.

"Do you want to feed her the rest?" She asks Clarke, who looks at her like she just offered her the entire world.

Clarke nods eagerly and takes the handful of nuts from her. Lexa looks on as Clarke feeds and gently pets the deer while telling the animal how beautiful she is. Lexa thinks to herself how beautiful Clarke is like this, so painfully human. She feels the need to look away while simultaneously hoping the vision will stay with her forever.

When the deer has had her fill and wanders off into the forest, Clarke looks forlorn. 

"I've never seen an animal before," Clarke confesses quietly.

Lexa gapes at her. The small revelation raises even more questions about Clarke than she had before. Where did Clarke come from, what is Clarke's 'age,' and a myriad of questions bubble up in her brain. But she bites her tongue and only asks, "Never?"

Clarke shakes her head, her blonde hair catching the sunlight like a halo around her head. "There were no animals where I come from."

Lexa files away the new nugget of information about Clarke with the rest of the things she's learned about her so far, hoping that maybe one day Clarke will tell her the whole story.

/

The sun has reached its highest point by the time they reach the ruins of Polis city. They find a power core and the nano-controllers Clarke wants to use for upgrades and repairs in an abandoned warehouse. It appeared to be picked clean as far as Lexa could see, but Clarke took off to a back room right away and forced the door open by heating the lock with her hand and pulling it open with a surprising amount of strength that Lexa didn't know Clarke possessed. Inside, the room was littered with components and several broken androids. Clarke swiftly grabbed what she needed while Lexa took some tools and batteries scattered on top of the workbenches. 

When they hear a gunshot and angry voices in the distance, they quickly get out and make their way back to the cover of the trees.

Back in the cover of the forest, Lexa thinks they're safe until a bullet whizzes past her head and hits the tree in front of her. She steps in front of Clarke to shield her with her body while frantically scanning their surroundings for the threat. 

A bald man with a scar running down his left cheek and a menacing look on his face steps out from behind a tree with a handgun aimed at them.

"Drop the gun," he says.

"We don't have a gun," Lexa says, putting up her empty hands. "We heard the gunshot as well and are trying to get away from it."

His eyes narrow in mistrust. "If it's not you who is shooting, why is someone shooting at you?"

"They weren't shooting at us, we never saw them, we just heard voices and gunfire and decided to flee the area."

The man doesn't look like he believes anything she's saying, but he shifts his attention to Clarke. "Who is your friend? Why is she so quiet? You got anything to say sweet—" 

Lexa feels Clarke step out from behind her, and the man's eyes widen as he trails off mid-sentence. He must have spotted the blue light on Clarke's temple because he aims his gun at Lexa's head.

"How the hell did you get a droid? Never mind that, I'll take it off your hands for you."

Dread fills the pit of Lexa's stomach, and sweat sprouts on her skin. She turns to look at Clarke, eyes wide and struggling for something to say, desperate to think of a way to keep Clarke safe. 

"Step away from the droid," the man says as he walks toward Clarke.

Lexa doesn't move. She's rooted to the ground, cursing her brain for failing her. She's been threatened, chased, shot at, robbed, and beaten, and not once has she felt as helpless as she does now. She's not ready to lose her new companion, even though she knows it's not rational to get attached to a droid she's been living with for as many days as she has fingers. 

The truth she now realizes is that she wants to learn everything about Clarke, thinks she will never get enough of her or stop being surprised by Clarke. The thought that she will never get the chance to get to know Clarke better if this man captures her makes her heart ache. She might never understand everything about the enigma that is her synthetic companion, but that's what makes her who she is. The one thing Lexa knows to be true is that Clarke is special.

"Move!" He yells, snapping her out of her spiraling panic.

"It's okay," Clarke whispers to her.

Lexa shakes her head because it's not okay. She's not okay. There has to be a way to gain the upper hand and stop this man. She just has to think of something quick.

"Do as he says, Lex."

Clarke's voice is steady, and she looks relaxed. Lexa doesn't understand how she can be so calm, but she listens to Clarke and takes a few steps back.

"Get over here, droid. You've got a new owner." The man leers at Clarke now that he's just a few meters away. "Look at you. You must've cost a fortune. I'll definitely put you to good use."

He keeps his gun aimed at Lexa while she walks backward with her hands in the air. Once he deems her far enough away to not be a threat, he lowers his gun and slings an arm around Clarke's chest, pulling her back to his front. His eyes travel over her body from where he's peering over her shoulder with a lecherous grin on his face.

"I must be the luckiest man in the world right now."

Clarke's eyes flick up to Lexa's with a piercing intensity right when a rustling sound can be heard in the distance, drawing the attention of the man who immediately points his gun toward the bushes. Clarke uses the distraction to break away from her assailant by elbowing him in the face. Lexa hears a sickening crunch and watches as his head snaps back and blood gushes from his nose. He screams in pain when Clarke turns around and knees him in the groin.

"No one owns me, asshole," she says to the man as he falls to the ground, curling up into a ball.

Clarke kicks his gun away from him and turns to walk over to Lexa, but Lexa's legs are already in motion, running to Clarke and flinging her arms around Clarke's neck. Relief floods through her body when Clarke wraps her arms around her waist. Clarke is still with her and she's safe, for now, because another threat is charging toward them with pounding fists snapping trees as it rushes through the undergrowth.

"Clarke, we have to run and find a place to hide. This animal is nothing like the one we saw this morning."

Clarke nods and accepts Lexa's hand when she holds it out for her, and together they set off in the opposite direction of the enraged animal. Lexa hopes the wounded man can provide enough of a distraction for them to sneak away unseen.

They're only a short distance away when they hear a blood-curdling scream from the bald man, followed by a roar and the sound of bones snapping like twigs.

After a few minutes of directionless running, Clarke pulls on Lexa's hand to direct her to the left.

"I detect a structure nearby," she says.

When they reach a half-broken railing with a rusty 'do not feed' sign dangling from it, a cold shiver runs down Lexa's spine.

"This is bad, we should keep running, we're not safe here," Lexa stammers, but she can hear the grunting gorilla catching up to them quickly, coming closer by the second, and she knows that if they keep running the ape will catch up with them, and they won't be safe either. They have no choice but to climb over the railing and run into the overgrown zoo enclosure. 

"Down here," says Clarke, dragging Lexa to a ledge and pointing at a rusty gate. "We can close that gate behind us so we can get away."

It's a long way down but Clarke takes the leap without hesitation, landing on her feet easily. Lexa looks over her shoulder when she hears the gorilla barreling through the fence. Two hundred kilos of enraged teeth and muscle rounds the corner and charges right at her.

She takes a deep breath and jumps after Clarke.

The next thing she hears is a loud snap underneath her body, and then her head hits the ground. Everything is fuzzy and muffled for a moment, but Clarke yelling her name brings things back into focus. It's the first time she's heard fear color Clarke's voice. When she tries to move, she understands why. Searing pain shoots through her arm when she tries to push herself up, and she cries out in pain. 

Clarke tugs at her good arm to help her up, but then the ground beneath them shudders as the gorilla jumps down and lands behind them. _This is where I die,_ Lexa thinks to herself. There is no way they can get to safety now. _Unless…_

"Clarke, leave me. You have to get out of here. Run!"

Maybe she can distract the gorilla long enough for Clarke to get away. Without Lexa slowing her down, she'll surely be able to run fast and far enough to escape. And it'll be worth it. Lexa will gladly sacrifice herself if it means Clarke will be safe and unharmed. But Clarke doesn't listen.

"Like hell I will," she says, her face set in stubborn determination.

Clarke steps forward, putting herself protectively between Lexa's prone form and the angry primate, squaring off with it. The gorilla bristles, pounding a massive fist on the ground. All Lexa can do is watch as they seemingly size each other up for a moment, until the gorilla grunts and swipes at Clarke with an arm the size of a tree trunk.

Clarke ducks underneath it, as fast and agile as a cat. She avoids a few more swinging fists until she finds an opening to spring forward with an outstretched arm, her palm connecting to the gorilla's chest. Clarke's hand crackles with a surge of electricity, making the gorilla freeze in place for a few seconds until it tips over and falls on it's back with a heavy thud.

Lexa's mouth is still hanging open in shock as Clarke prods the giant ape's limp body, seemingly making sure the animal is out cold, or maybe even dead. Lexa hopes it's not.

Movement a short distance away catches her eye and makes her heart trip in fear once again, until she sees what it is. A small, wide-eyed baby gorilla peeks at them from behind a large boulder.

"She has a little one to protect; that's why she attacked us. First the gunshots, then we got too close," Lexa says while trying to get up. 

Clarke quickly comes to her side to support her.

"I know, I saw the heat signature too late cause it's so small."

"Is she dead?"

"No, she'll regain consciousness very soon. I just needed to buy enough time to get you to safety," Clarke says, a worried furrow between her brows as blue eyes track over Lexa's face. 

Warmth blooms in Lexa's belly and into her chest. _To get_ me _to safety,_ she thinks to herself _._ She opens her mouth to speak but promptly presses her lips together to swallow back the words on her tongue, for now. 

/

Lexa leaves a handful of berries and nuts behind next to the unconscious gorilla as a way of apology. When she looks back one last time, she sees the little one happily munching on them.

"They'll be fine," Clarke says to put her at ease, her voice soft so close to Lexa's ear. Lexa's right arm is slung around Clarke's shoulders, clinging to her tightly while her left hangs uselessly in a makeshift sling, tied up by Clarke quickly and efficiently with a piece of rope and cloth before they set off. 

The darker it gets, the more Lexa stumbles, the heavier she leans on Clarke. She tried to navigate them in the direction of the treehouse, or so she thought until Clarke gently steered them in a different direction. 

Lexa blamed the pain in the left side of her body for making it hard to think with a clear mind. But she felt quietly foolish for thinking Clarke wouldn't be able to find her way back with all the navigational tools at her disposal. 

When Lexa trips over yet another tree root, she stops declining Clarke's offer to carry her. Clarke gingerly picks her up and lifts her like she's weightless.

Shortly after Clarke starts walking again, Lexa lets her head rest against Clarke's shoulder. She fights off the impulse to close her eyes and fall asleep to the gentle rocking of her body with each step Clarke takes. Instead, she lifts her tired eyes and gazes up at Clarke, her face only visible whenever the nearly full moon illuminates her from between the treetops. 

Despite the chill of night settling over the forest and into her bones, Lexa feels warmth bloom in her chest. She feels safe and cared for for the first time in so long. She can't remember the last time she felt this way, if ever. Without Clarke, she surely would have met her end today. The thought makes her cling to Clarke a little tighter, and in response, Clarke gives her a little squeeze.

/

Clarke puts her down after what must be at least half an hour, though Lexa's not sure. The throbbing pain in her body makes every minute last an eternity.

"Clarke?"

Lexa calls out when she realizes the android has disappeared into the dark forest. She shivers and looks around to locate the android, but her eyes are of no use. Her ears perk up when she hears the telltale sound of heavy metal groaning under its own weight. A few moments later, Clarke is back at her side, crouching down in front of her.

"Climb on my back. I found a place where we can take shelter for the night."

Lexa wants to argue that she can make it home, but before she can open her mouth a lance of pain shoots through her shoulder again, and she relents. She clings to Clarke like a koala while they make their way down the hatch and a ladder.

Clarke, who has somehow found an underground bunker in total darkness, gently puts her down on what feels like a couch. A moment later, the bunker is lit by the soft light of a candle, followed by a few others Clarke lights across the room, bathing the cold concrete bunker in a warm orange glow.

It's clear no one has found this bunker before because it hasn't been raided. It looks like time has stood still, and the people who built it could arrive at any moment. There are some shelves stocked with canned food in a small kitchen, a table with two chairs, a bed, and the couch she's sitting on. Only the dust layer gives away the fate of the people who didn't make it down here before the bombs dropped.

Clarke rummages around in the kitchen drawers and comes over to her carrying a first aid kit. Lexa watches her wipe the dusty table in front of them with a cloth before putting the kit down and pulling out a pair of scissors, alcohol swabs, painkillers, bandages, and bandaids.

After laying everything out, Clarke carefully removes Lexa's makeshift sling and helps her out of her jacket. Lexa watches Clarke's face throughout it all, paying attention to the intense focus and care she sees there instead of the pain in her arm. Lexa startles when Clarke looks at her arm, and her eyes light up with bright white light for a split second. When Clarke finally looks at her, there is a pensive furrow between her brows. 

"It's broken."

Lexa sighs at the sliver of hope she held onto that it wasn't a fracture being snuffed out. Even though she knew it was bad deep down, the reality of the situation still takes it out on her. An injury like this would have cost her her life had she been alone. It might still if she can't take care of herself well enough while she heals.

"I will keep it in the sling, wait for it to heal. It'll be fine in a couple of weeks."

Clarke shakes her head, looking apologetic, and Lexa braces herself. 

"It needs to be set first, I'm afraid." 

"I see," she says, swallowing thickly.

"Have you ever broken a bone before?" 

"Only my little toe on my right foot, years ago."

"Hmm, I'm afraid this is a bit more serious." 

Lexa looks down at her arm and the visible bump above her wrist where the bone underneath is sticking out at an odd angle, and nods. She might not have x-ray vision like Clarke, but even she can tell at a glance that this won't heal without getting the bone back into place.

"I promise it will be over quickly, okay?" Clarke says while holding her hand. "Let's get you some painkillers and clean you up first, though."

Clarke takes two painkillers from the first aid kit and retrieves Lexa's flask from her backpack. She hands Lexa the pills and places the flask against her lips to help her drink after putting them in her mouth. The bitter taste of them washing away as she takes a few big gulps.

Clarke diligently cleans the cuts and scrapes on her arm with alcohol swabs and applies bandages where needed. Even though the alcohol burns the patches of broken skin, Clarke's touch leaves goosebumps in her wake and awakens a flutter in Lexa's belly.

It's just... she doesn't remember the last time someone cared for her, touched her, protected her. 

Her cheeks flush when Clarke cleans a scrape on her face, and even though she's unable to look Clarke in the eye, she knows Clarke is smirking.

"I'm trying to clean your face to stop the bleeding. It would help if you didn't rush all of it to your cheeks," Clarke comments with a teasing lilt to her voice.

Lexa gnaws on her lips and looks away, willing her color to return to normal. 

Clarke laughs and squeezes Lexa's hand to stop her fidgeting. "Relax, I'm just joking."

She applies two more bandaids and disposes of the used supplies. When she turns back to face Lexa, her expression has become serious.

"Are you ready?"

Lexa sighs. "As ready as I'll ever be," she sighs, nerves racing through her body, and then adds, "You've done this before, right? You know what you're doing?"

"I haven't set a broken bone before, but don't worry, if basic bots can do it, I can do it too," Clarke states with confidence.

Lexa watches Clarke, running her particular word choice through her head a few times. When Clarke notices Lexa studying her, she deflects quickly.

"I mean, almost all androids have basic medical help protocol programming, which includes setting broken bones."

Lexa nods slowly. "And you're much more advanced than most androids."

It's a statement. She's taken apart too many 'basic bots' as Clarke calls them to know that their insides are nothing like Clarke and precious few components were usable when fixing her up. Clarke seems to understand her line of thinking and nods.

Lexa takes a deep breath to brace herself for what comes next.

"Okay, I trust you. Let's do it."

/

The sickening crunch of her bone snapping into place will stay with her forever; she's sure of that. The pain doesn't last long, but the intensity of it has her feeling lightheaded. Clarke is already wrapping her arm, using the metal plate from her underarm as a makeshift cast to keep the bone from moving. 

"I'm sorry," She says, looking truly upset for hurting Lexa more, even though they both know it had to be done. 

"It's okay," says Lexa, her voice a little hoarse from the shout she let out moments earlier. "Thank you. For saving me, for taking care of me."

"You fixed me. Now I'm fixing you," Clarke says with a warm smile.

Lexa tries to return it, but a violent shiver has her clenching her teeth, which probably makes it look more like a grimace. Now that her bone is back in place, she's overcome with exhaustion, cold and shivery, and close to passing out. If only she could just lay down for a bit, rest her head, and close her eyes… 

Before her head hits the seat of the couch, Clarke's arms curl around her body and scoop her up. Lexa's uninjured arm automatically finds Clarke's neck, and she presses her face in Clarke's neck without thinking. She's reluctant to let go when Clarke gingerly puts her down on the bed and holds on to her as Clarke retreats.

"Stay. Please?" 

"I promise I'm not going anywhere," Clarke whispers.

One by one, the candles go out until the bunker is dark again, and then, Clarke is back at Lexa's side, lying down next to her on the narrow bed. There are no blankets and no pillows, just a thin mattress, but Lexa is so tired she doesn't even care about the icy cold anymore now that she's finally laying down and she can rest safely with Clarke so close.

The cold lessens somewhat when Clarke scoots closer and wraps her arm around Lexa, gently pulling her in to rest her face on Clarke's chest. The heat simmering in her belly as a result of being in this position spreads to the rest of her body, and Lexa sleepily wonders how, until she realizes it's _Clarke._

Clarke's body has become toasty warm against her, and Lexa eagerly snuggles up to her, nearly purring under the warm hand stroking up and down her back. With every stroke of Clarke's hand, the tension, pain, and cold seep out of her body, making her feel both weightless and grounded by Clarke at the same time.

 _Clarke,_ her savior. Her guardian angel. She's so much more than Lexa ever thought she'd get out of a synthetic companion. Much more than she ever dared to dream. Much more than she thought an android could ever be, almost like a real person…

"Sleep, Lexa," Clarke whispers.

Lexa falls asleep within moments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you think in the comments or my inbox on [tumblr](https://syngularitysyn.tumblr.com/). I'm not sure how to end this story yet, but lets hope I can wrap this one up in the next chapter :D


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